Magic: The Gathering devs unban cards as ‘an experiment’

In a first for the venerable trading card game, Magic: The Gathering publishers Wizards of the Coast are unbanning several cards that had been previously excluded from play.

Both High Tide and Prophetic Prism are now legal in the Pauper format, but the change is being made only on a trial basis. No additional cards were unbanned, nor were any other cards unbanned for any other format such as Commander. The announcement, made Monday in a blog post, is also available on YouTube. We’ve embedded the nearly 20-minute video below, and set it to begin at the discussion of the unbanned cards.

“A trial unban is unbanning the card with the expectation that at the next [banned and restricted, or B&R announcement], we will evaluate if the card should remain on the banned list or be put back on,” Verhey said in the video. “We’ll also share our expectations of what we’re hoping happens with that card, and then compare that to reality. Not every unban in the future will necessarily be a trial unban, but it’s a great tool in our toolbox.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a disastrous B&R announcement for the Commander format in 2024, which led to alleged death threats, the dissolution of the multiplayer format’s volunteer oversight committee, and a beta test of Commander Brackets and the newly established Game Changers List to help stabilize the ultra-popular format. Commander is now fully managed by Wizards, albeit with substantive input offered via the newly-established Commander Format Panel.

At MagicCon Chicago, held this year in February, Verhey told Polygon that there was the potential for unbans to happen in the Commander format. But, if they do occur, they would be different than what we’re seeing here with Pauper.

“For the next steps [following the Commander Brackets beta], our plan is we’re going to come back in late April with feedback from the beta, make any tweaks to the system, or launch it out of beta,” Verhey said during a panel interview with the press. “Potentially, at that point, we could be unbanning cards if we chose to. We will not be banning any cards at that time, but some cards may be unbanned to go on the [Game Changers] list.”

Today’s announcement makes no promises that any other unbans will occur — for Commander, or any other format.

“We want to try something new as an experiment,” Verhey wrote in the announcement. “No other format has really tried this, and we think Pauper is a great place to experiment. You should not expect to see this in any other formats, and it’s something the [Pauper Format Panel] is specifically interested in and thinks Pauper can handle given the accessibility of building decks and the predominance of online play.”